Six feet tall and weighing thirteen terrifying stone, Billy Whitehurst is regarded by many as the hardest player to ever have lived. Niall Quinn recounted a (rather one-sided) altercation with the Hull born striker, telling of how he threatened to "smash" whoever fancied marking him on a corner. Whereas former pros talk of Mick Harford with respect (even a certain nostalgia) for the physical tussles they had, similar words about Whitehurst are scarcely found. He instead inspired a genuine fear. Joining Sunderland when firmly in the journeyman stage of his career, Harford only made 17 appearances - finding the net three times. Unlike Harford, who always denied that he was hard ("just brave"), Whitehurst seemed to agree with his considerable reputation in an interview with the Guardian: "99.9% percent of stories said about me were about being a hard man and kicking people, elbowing people, biting people". A terrifying admission from perhaps Sunderland's hardest ever player. Narrowing the list down to ten was incredibly difficult - and we're certain some infamous hard men will have been left out - so please do leave your comments below. Who deserves a place? Who doesn't?
